So I saw my gym friend, Val, yesterday morning. 'Hey thanks for your little note,' I remarked as I pedaled quickly on my way to nowhere. Val had responded to my last Morning Briefing, 'Fly on the wall.'1
'Oh sure - yeah, I got your looooong email,' he smiled, clearly indicating that it would be more desirable if these Morning Briefings were, well, briefer. Maybe it is silly, but his few words replayed over and over in my mind as I went about the business of my unusual day.
Why do I write? I asked myself again as I have many times in the 16 plus years I have been writing Morning Briefings. I write because people are looking for God. Many have left the church, others have never darkened the door of a church. A lot of my readers are folks I have met on airplanes near and far, still others found me through Facebook and google ads, the latter accounting for my many international readers. I write because I am called by God to share the love of God in any and every way I am able. And what a Source I have from which to draw . . . the perfect precious Word of God!
While I study a lot about the context and meaning, and then pray for inspiration about the Scripture passage, the most valuable part of these briefings is the Bible itself, not what I write about it. Aiming for brevity over the years, I have sometimes included the link for readers to tap, and not the text itself. Somehow, that just does not seem right.
One thing to know about Scripture, God did not inspire the original writers to break their work into chapters and verses, numbering them as they went along. More than a thousand years after the canon of Scripture was complete, chapters, paragraph breaks and numbers were added to make the Bible easier to cite, more workable to reference.
Luke chapter one is long - time for the first announced baby boy's birth:
"When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”
“What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way. [I wonder what they saw in one so young, John-the-Baptist. When we pay attention, there are so many little details that the writers of Scripture include.]
Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:
“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people.
He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David,
just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago.
Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us.
He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant—
the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.
We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear,
in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.
“And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. [Can you imagine looking at your baby and pronouncing these things over him?]
Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”
John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.2
God keeps his promises. To Zechariah and Elizabeth, to a covenant people, and
to those of us who read and believe what he said he would do
even as we wait upon the Lord for what he will yet do.
And so I am wondering - what are you waiting for? What are your not-yet answered prayers? This passage in Luke 1 is one more evidence that God does indeed keep his promises. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!3
oh man, this song--this man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yViZDRzz-2A
We love a God who is trustworthy,
Christine
1 - "If You Could Be A Fly on the Wall" - https://conta.cc/3ZlP7Op
2 - Luke 1.57-80, New Living Translation
3 - Psalm 27.14, New King James Version
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